Officials defend jail staff after man’s apparent suicide

SANTA FE - Officials came to the defense of the Santa Fe County jail in the wake of an apparent suicide by a jailed man accused of torturing and killing a child.

County Communication Coordinator Kristine Mihelcic said Monday in a release that staff at the facility addresses mental health issues and suicide prevention as it oversees the approximately 8,000 inmates who pass through the facility each year.

But officials conceded in the release that the staff’s efforts do not guarantee inmates will not try to harm themselves.

“Despite the best of intentions and practices with respect to suicide prevention, occasionally an individual who decides to self-harm within a detention and correctional facility will commit self-harm,” Mihelcic said.

The release came just hours after the attorney for Ferguson said officials need to investigate the death of Thomas Wayne Ferguson and hold jail personnel accountable if necessary.

Ferguson was found dead Friday night in his cell after apparently hanging himself with a sheet, the Santa Fe New Mexican reported . Ferguson was awaiting trial on a first-degree murder charge in the torture and beating death of 13-year-old Jeremiah Valencia, the son of Ferguson’s girlfriend, Tracy Ann Peña.

“The jail has a responsibility to all inmates to ensure that they are safe, regardless of what they are charged with,” Michael Jones said, who represented Ferguson.

“I hope that the authorities do an investigation and all the proper protocols were followed,” Jones said. “And if they weren’t, that needs to be made public.”

Ferguson had pleaded not guilty to 17 felony counts and one misdemeanor charge in the case.

County officials have not yet addressed the jail’s suicide-watch procedures or whether Ferguson had undergone a suicide screening. Ferguson, who was arrested in January and had a past suicide attempt, according to court records, had not been placed on a suicide watch and did not have a cellmate, Mihelcic said Saturday.